Cam's Connection

Bellmount Wood ~Chapter 3 Cairo the rattlesnake coiled his massive form around a thick marble pillar in his temple. Enslaved creatures were shackled to the pillars around him. They waved palm fronds in the air creating a gentle breeze to cool him. Cairo was restless. After his armies had defeated the great empire of Nipponia, he had been at a loose end. Slaves, jewles and other plunder had been pouring into Salsa Springs for weeks now on giant wooden wagons driven by his racoon commanders. He was getting richer and more powerful daily. But still he wanted more. Cairo was the greatest tyrant the animal world had ever seen. He drove creatures away from their homes and enslaved them in his many fine palaces and temples, or used them as cheap labour in his mines and farms. They toiled their lives away endlessly under awful conditions to satisfy a cruel and merciless dictator's every whim. With his wealth and influence he had brought together an army of scores and scores of raccoons and rats. They travelled the countryside and brought plunder to Cairo. Part of the reason they obeyed him was that they were afraid of him, but the other was that he always won. He was an excellent general with a clever and twisted mind. Not only that, but he had a huge inflated ego. He pampered himself by building a city called Salsa Springs, just for him and his most trusted advisors to live in. It was filled with temples and statues dedicated to Cairo. The more jewels and riches he got the more he began to feel that something was missing inside him. So he called all his advisors to a spur of the moment war council. With a long hiss Cairo began speaking. "I have desssided to make war on Bellmount Wood! I want you to mobilize my entire army immediately, except for guardssss. We will march on the first day of ssspring next year! The might of my army will be felt all over the world. We will penetrate the darkest cavernssss, the farthest islandsss, the coldest mountaintopsss and mossst of all - the deepest and thickest of all forestsss!" A racoon wearing thick linen robes and a green sash timidly raised his hand. "But master, don't you re-re-remember what happened to your father's army when he attacked Rowanbrooke Hall last campaign?" "Silence!!!" shrieked Cairo. "I remember very well my father's folly. Thisss time it will be different. Those Woodlanders will fall! And they will pay for what they have done in generations past!" "In fact, YOU Arizona will lead an advanced group of warriors to capture hostages and bring them back to me. Yesss, yesss... I can see it all now. We will bring some hostages back to Salsa Springssss and find out from them whether the Woodlanderssss are well prepared for our invasion. And when we return next spring with our full force, they might be more inclined to bargain with me for the return of their precious hostages. We will crush them! Those measly Woodlandersss will feel the full power of Cairo's wrath! And they will grovel before me to beg for my forgivnessss..." Cairo continued mumbling to himself about all the things he would do to the creatures once he had defeated them. A shudder went through the advisors. What Cairo was planning to do was bold, brutal and just a little bit crazy. Despite the size and might of the armies that came before him in attacking Bellmount Wood, they had all failed. It seemed the Woodlanders had a might all of their own when it came to defending their happy, peaceful lives. But then again, Cairo had never lost a battle. Chapter 4